Taylor Swift has proven yet again that she’s an astute businesswoman, with revelations from a lawyer leading a class action suit against celebrities who promoted FTX claiming that Swift managed to dodge that particular shitstorm by simply doing her due diligence.
But first, a quick primer: In November 2022, FTX, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, collapsed overnight. Its embattled founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is now on trial for criminal charges related to fraud.
To give you an idea how big FTX was in the crypto industry, remember that Super Bowl ad with Larry David? Remember when FTX Arena held naming rights for the Miami Heat’s home arena? Fairly big, you’d say. The exchange had mainstream attention, and splashed out on a swathe of highly paid celebrity endorsements accordingly.
A stack of celebrities who endorsed FTX are now facing a class action lawsuit for promoting the sale of “unregistered securities” with FTX: Tom Brady and Shaquille O’Neal are named in the case, among others. But Taylor Swift? Nowhere to be seen.
As it turns out, that’s with good reason. Despite FTX parking a dumptruck full of money under her nose, Swift reportedly walked away from the deal after the company couldn’t satisfy her queries about its operations.
According to The Block, a lawyer who is working on the case, Adam Moskowitz, revealed in a podcast that Taylor Swift was one of the only celebrities who bothered to check if FTX was offering unregistered securities.
“The one person I found that did [due diligence] was Taylor Swift. In our discovery, Taylor Swift actually asked them, ‘Can you can you tell me that these are not unregistered securities?’” Moskowitz said.
In other words, Swift was the only one who did any modicum of background research, and thus avoided the FTX shitstorm that even hit government investment portfolios.
FTX: Swift knew they were trouble when they walked in
In 2022, it was revealed that FTX actually approached Taylor Swift for a sponsorship deal. Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was reportedly a Swiftie, and FTX reached out to Swift’s team for a US$100 million (AU$148 million) tour sponsorship, and a “light degree of endorsement” on social media.
According to sources cited in the Financial Times, Swift “never contemplated agreeing to endorse the exchange.”
And why would she even think about it anyway? Her Eras Tour is expected to rake in a staggering US$590 million (AU$877 million) in ticket sales. Her bags are more secure than ever. Good one, TayTay.
